First Property Group wins nearly half a million in unpaid rent from H. Samuel operator July 14, 2022 London property fund manager First Property Group has won nearly half a million in rent arrears from the operator of H. Samuel and Ernest Jones, after the jewellers withheld payment during pandemic restrictions. First Property recovered £450,000 from retail operator Signet Trading, in the first known arbitration under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022. Gary [...]
Taiwanese iPhone maker snaps up stake in China’s top chip firm amid geopolitical storm July 13, 2022 Taiwanese iPhone manufacturer Foxconn has reportedly bought a stake in China’s top chip maker, amid escalating geopolitical tensions between both nations. The deal, which will require approval from Taiwan’s investment commission, forms part of an effort to increase its chip shareholdings in recent months after demand soared during the pandemic. It comes as state-backed Tsinghua [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile? July 13, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Actis Sustainable infrastructure investor Actis has poached its new head of central and eastern Europe from Allianz Capital Partners (ACP). Jaroslava Korpanec, who was a founding partner at ACP, also joins the firm as a partner, leading [...]
Government braces to fund ‘substantial’ number of Covid-19 vaccine liabilities July 13, 2022 The government is bracing to fund a “substantial” number of liabilities relating to negative impacts from Covid-19 jabs, having spent more than £34bn on the vaccine rollout so far. The Department of Health and Social Care told vaccine manufacturers at the start of the programme that it would cover future claims against producers for [...]
Butlin’s sites snapped up for £300m as Brits turn to home turf instead of flying July 12, 2022 The sites of Blackstone-owned holiday resort chain Butlin’s have been snapped up for £300m, in a ground rent deal signalling the continued momentum behind British holiday parks. Chief market analyst at IG Group, Chris Beauchamp, told City A.M. the investment was “a sensible move given the expectation that Brits will be spending less time on [...]
Activist investor calls for PurpleBricks chairman to resign July 11, 2022 PurpleBricks could have a shareholder revolt on its hands, after one activist investor called for the estate agent’s chairman to resign today. The online-only agency has struggled to maintain its market share, despite the transition over to virtual spaces during the pandemic. In a letter to the company, Adam Smith’s investment vehicle Lecram Holdings said [...]
Investors strap themselves to real estate debt, pouring £590m into BNP Paribas fund July 11, 2022 Investors have poured more than €700m (£592m) into BNP Paribas’ second senior commercial real estate debt fund. The French asset management giant sailed passed its €500m (£423m) target, with investors keen to strap themselves to sturdy funds with a record of navigating financial crises, such as the pandemic. The second fund has snagged more than [...]
MJ Gleeson doubles home sales as appetite for affordable property offsets inflation July 11, 2022 Low-cost housebuilder MJ Gleeson has doubled its home sales in the past five years, leaving significant material and labour cost increases in the dust. In an upbeat trading update today, the company boasted a more than 10 per cent jump in sales to a total of 2,000 in the year to 30 June. “Notwithstanding the [...]
Capital & Regional sells off East London residential site for £22m July 11, 2022 Property manager Capital & Regional (C&R) has sold off a residential development in Walthamstow for nearly £22m just months after snagging planning permission. The site at its 17&Central shopping centre in the East London district, which hosts businesses such as JD Sports, TK Maxx and River Island, has been sold to specialist developer Long Harbour, [...]
Mediclinic bosses U-turn on rejection of billion-pound takeover by consortium July 7, 2022 The board of private hospital operator Mediclinic have U-turned on their rejection of a takeover approach from a consortium including billionaire luxury goods tycoon Johann Rupert. Bosses at the London-listed firm said today that having weighed up the realities of current macro-economic conditions, “the near-term value realisation of the latest proposal provides Mediclinic’s shareholders an [...]